Glue dispensing assembly

ABSTRACT

A glue dispensing assembly is disclosed wherein a housing is provided having a tubular blade member disposed therein which impales a glue container as the container is positioned within the housing and acts as a conduit for the glue.

United States Patent Ernst Dec. 30, 1975 1 1 GLUE DISPENSING ASSEMBLY[75] Inventor: Richard J. Ernst, Palatine, 111. [56] References Cited[73] Assignee: Xerox Corporation, Stamford, UNITED STATES PATENTS Conn2,350,836 6/1944 Sonneborn et a1 222/88 3,731,846 5/1973 Turner et a1222/86 [22] Filed: Feb. 13, 1974 Appl. No.: 442,287

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 312,352, Dec. 5,1972, abandoned.

U.S. Cl. 222/88 Int. Cl. B67B 7/24 Field of Search 222/86, 88, 81, 80,83.5, 222/181 Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg [57] ABSTRACT A gluedispensing assembly is disclosed wherein a housing is provided having atubular blade member disposed therein which impales a glue container asthe container is positioned within the housing and acts as a conduit forthe glue.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Fig. 2

GLUE DISPENSING ASSEMBLY This is a continuation of application Ser. No.312,352, filed Dec. 5, 1972, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a viscous liquiddispensing assembly, and more particularly, to a glue dispensingassembly adapted for use with label addressing machines and the like. Adifficulty often encountered in dispensing glue to a label addressingassembly is the inability of the operator to rapidly and neatly removean exhausted glue bottle, refill the glue bottle, invert it and screw itinto the glue bottle housing. In order to perform this operation, anoperator must use caution to avoid an unacceptable and messy condition.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a new and improved viscous liquid dispensing assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method forreadily maintaining a supply of a viscous liquid, such as glue and thelike, to a label addressing assembly.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedviscous liquid dispensing assem bly which readily allows the replacementof an empty container by a full container.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplaryembodiment thereof and the novel features will be particularly pointedout in connection with the appended claims.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention,a glue dispensing assembly is provided comprised of a housing and atubular shaped blade member disposed in an upward projection in thelower portion of the housing. The housing conforms substantially to thecross-sectional shape of a viscous liquid container and is formed in amanner to support the container in an inclined position. Glue dispensingis achieved by placing a container in the housing and impaling a portionof the container on a blade section of the tubular blade member topermit the glue to flow from the container into the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will now be described inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals are used throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view partially in section, illustrating the viscousliquid dispensing assembly of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an auxilliary view of the dispensing assembly of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Referring now to the drawing, thereis shown a glue dispensing assembly, generally indicated as 10, havingas major elements a housing member 12 and a tubular blade member 14.

The housing member 12 is comprised of bottom wall 16, a front wall 18,an intermediate bottom wall 20, a top wall 22 and side walls 24, therebydefining a viscous liquid reservoir. The front wall 18 of thehousing 1'0is formed with an orifice 26 to provide a flow path for walls 24 tolimit the insertion of the container to a fixed or desired position tothereby maintain a liquid level within the housing, as hereinafter morefully described.

The tubular blade member 14 is comprised of a cylin drical wall 34formed with openings 36, 38 and 40. The openings 38 and 40 are formed bynarrowed cut-away sections of the cylindrical wall 34. The opening 36 inthe blade member 14 is elliptically shaped and is formed by bisectingthe end of the cylindrical wall 36 on a plane inclined at an obtuseangle to the axis thereof. The surface of the cylindrical wall 34 formedabout the opening 36, is honed to a sharp edge. Generally, it isdesirable to make the tubular blade member 14 of a material thatmaintains a sharp edge. The diameter of the cylindrical wall 34 isselected to regulate the flow of the glue through the tubular blademember and into the housing member 12. The tubular blade member 14 isdisposed in a lower portion of the housing member 12 about an inclinedplane extending upwardly with the axis thereof parallel to the side wall24 and is affixed to the bottom wall 16 of housingmember 12, such as bya bolt fastener 42 and bolt holder 44 mounted to the bottom wall 1.6thereof.

In operation, a glue container, such as illustrated by the dotted linesin FIG. 1 and referenced as 46, with its top end down, is inserted intothe housing 12 until the top portion of the container 46 is caused tomeet the plate members 32. The top of the container 46 is impaled by thesurface of blade means 14 by the downward movement of the container 46into the housing 12 and glue caused to flow into the housing 12 throughthe opening formed in the top of the container 42. As seen by referenceto FIG. 1, the glue level (L) is maintained at the highest point of theopening formed in the top of the container 46. As glue flows into thefeeder reservoir 28 through the orifice 26 formed in the front wall 18,the level of the glue in the housing 12 recedes to permit air to flowinto the opening in the container 46, which in turn allows additionalquantities of glue to flow out of the container 46 until the opening isclosed and a slight vacuum formed which inhibits additional flow ofglue, restoring the glue to a desired level within the housing 12. Uponobservation that the feeder reservoir 28 or level of glue (L) isdropping because the supply of glue in the container 46 is becomingdepleted, the glue container 46 is withdrawn and a filled containerinserted into the housing 12.

Although the glue container 46 shown in FIG. 1 is in the shape of a milkcarton, it is understood that the container may take other shapes, suchas a cylinder, a square, etc. and the viscous liquid dispenser assembly10 may be designed to accommodate any such container. Thus, containerswith circular, square, triangular bases, etc. would be appropriate foruse in the present invention. Moreover, although the description ofoperation of the assembly is discussed with reference to the dispensingof glue, the instant invention is appropriate for dispensing any viscousliquid.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings and therefore the instantinvention may be practised otherwise than as particularly described.

What is claimed:

3 1. Apparatus for dispensing a liquid in a container, comprising:

a housing into which the container is insertable downwardly along alinear path;

a tubular blade member having at least one opening in its wall;

means for connecting the blade member inside the housing with its axisparallel to the direction of the linear path, whereby said blade piercesa hole in the container upon its being inserted a predetermined amount;and

a pair of tabs connected to the inside of the housing at a level abovethe bottom of the housing for limiting the extent to which saidcontainer is insertable into the housing, said hole and at least one ofsaid openings being in communication when further insertion of thecontainer is limited, whereby the liquid in the container maintains asump of the liquid in the bottomof the housing.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including a feeder reservoircoupled to the housing and means for transferring liquid in the sump tothe reservoir.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein a part of the housing isinclined and provides a support for the container.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the axis of said blade memberis parallel to said inclined part of the housing.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the blade member iscylindrical and includes an elliptically shaped engaging surface.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the blade member is locatedadjacent the inclined part of the housing, a wall of the container beingslidable between the inclined part and the blade member.

1. Apparatus for dispensing a liquid in a container, comprising: ahousing into which the container is insertable downwardly along a linearpath; a tubular blade member having at least one opening in its wall;means for connecting the blade member inside the housing with its axisparallel to the direction of the linear path, whereby said blade piercesa hole in the container upon its being inserted a predetermined amount;and a pair of tabs connected to the inside of the housing at a levelabove the bottom of the housing for limiting the extent to which saidcontainer is insertable into the housing, said hole and at least one ofsaid openings being in communication when further insertion of thecontainer is limited, whereby the liquid in the container maintains asump of the liquid in the bottom of the hoUsing.
 2. Apparatus as definedin claim 1, further including a feeder reservoir coupled to the housingand means for transferring liquid in the sump to the reservoir. 3.Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein a part of the housing isinclined and provides a support for the container.
 4. Apparatus asdefined in claim 3 wherein the axis of said blade member is parallel tosaid inclined part of the housing.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1wherein the blade member is cylindrical and includes an ellipticallyshaped engaging surface.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein theblade member is located adjacent the inclined part of the housing, awall of the container being slidable between the inclined part and theblade member.